Zelenskyi’s declaration that Ukraine will not surrender land could mark the collapse of Trump’s plan, WP said. The U.S. is trying to peel Zelenskyi away from the European leaders so they can pressure him more effectively, Axios says. Japan rebuffs the EU’s plea to join its plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine, Politico says.
Zelenskyi’s declaration that Ukraine will not surrender land could mark collapse of Trump’s plan, WP says
Ukraine will not surrender territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky declared Monday, rejecting a central Russian demand that President Donald Trump had incorporated into his latest proposal to end the Kremlin’s war, The Washington Post (WP) said Tuesday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.
The unequivocal declaration that Ukraine will not surrender land could mark the collapse of Trump’s plan, which critics condemned as fulfilling a wish list of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Under our laws, under international law — and under moral law — we have no right to give anything away,” Zelensky said, after meeting with top European leaders to discuss Trump’s plan Monday. “That is what we are fighting for.”
The unequivocal declaration that Ukraine will not surrender land could mark the collapse of Trump’s plan, which critics condemned as fulfilling a wish list of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky, speaking to journalists aboard his flight to Brussels following consultations with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany in London, made one of his clearest public statements yet on the emerging U.S.-backed proposal. He said the plan had been stripped of what he called “explicitly anti-Ukrainian provisions,” suggesting that Kyiv was open to a deal.
Some Ukrainian officials held out hope that the negotiations could still bear fruit.
The proposal “is closer to be doable for Ukraine, but not easy and not finished,” said a senior Ukrainian official familiar with recent discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Trump over the weekend again cast Kyiv as the obstacle to the American-championed proposal, accusing Zelensky of slow-walking the plan, even as Moscow has shown little, if any, willingness to compromise on its maximalist demands.
Even before Zelensky’s outright rejection of ceding land, Ukraine and its European supporters voiced deep apprehension about Trump’s initiative, which some said originally was so favorable to Russia that they believed it had been drafted by the Kremlin.
Kyiv is hoping to secure a firmer, coordinated Western response to Trump’s proposal. European leaders have voiced support for the U.S.-led diplomacy but are wary of any settlement that locks in Russia’s territorial gains or that leaves Ukraine without solid security guarantees to prevent another Russian attack.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London to discuss the latest U.S.-authored peace proposal aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“The leaders discussed diplomatic engagement with the American side, aligned a shared position and agreed on the next steps,” the Office of the President of Ukraine said in a statement. They also “stressed that the peace plan must provide for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, security guarantees from partners, and a full ceasefire,” it added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky faces growing pressure from the U.S. to accept major territorial losses and other concessions in President Trump’s peace plan, two Ukrainian officials tell Axios. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.
The negotiations have homed in on two issues: Russia’s demand that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region, including parts its forces don’t control, and Ukraine’s request for strong security guarantees from the U.S. to prevent future Russian aggression.
A Ukrainian official said the U.S. offer had worsened, from Kyiv’s perspective, after Trump’s advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held a five-hour meeting with Putin last week in the Kremlin.
U.S. trying to peel Zelenskyi away from EU leaders so they can pressure him more effectively, Axios says
Ukrainian officials said they feel the U.S. is trying to peel Zelensky away from the European leaders so they can pressure him more effectively, Axios said on Monday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials say the Trump administration saw Zelensky’s meeting on Downing Street as an unhelpful attempt to buy time in the negotiations over Trump’s peace plan.
“Zelensky can’t make such dramatic decisions without consulting his key allies in Europe,” a Ukrainian official said.
The official said that while the Trump administration is pressing Zelensky to move fast, the Europeans are advising caution and patience.
That dynamic infuriates some in the White House who see the Europeans as a major obstacle to a deal.
On Monday, Zelensky met in London with the leaders of the U.K., France and Germany to project a joint position on Trump’s plan.
“We have a lot of cards in our hands,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz added that he was “skeptical of some of the details that we see in the documents coming from the U.S. side,” and stressed that there should be no doubt that Europe stands behind Ukraine.
Zelenskyi’s European tour continued in Brussels and Rome. Speaking to journalists on his way to Brussels on Monday, the Ukrainian president said that Ukraine and the EU were revising the plan and would share it with the US on Tuesday.
Japan rebuffs EU plea to join its plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine, Politico says
Japan has rebuffed the EU’s offer to join its plan to use frozen Russian state assets to fund Ukraine — dashing the bloc’s hopes of securing global support for the initiative, Politico said on Monday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.
During a meeting of G7 finance ministers on Monday, Tokyo poured cold water on a request by Brussels to copy its plans to send Ukraine the cash value of Russian sovereign assets held in Belgian bank Euroclear.
Japan signaled it is unable to use around $30 billion worth of Russian frozen assets held on its soil to issue a loan to Ukraine, two EU diplomats briefed on the discussions told Politico.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has ruled out using the Russian assets due to legal concerns, said an EU diplomat who was briefed on the meeting.
However, several officials said Japan’s stance was linked to U.S. opposition to using the Russian assets for Ukraine, arguing Tokyo doesn’t want to flout its crucial ally.
